12/8/23: Jan Blachowicz To Undergo Shoulder Surgery
A setback to the former light heavyweight champion leads the MMA headlines for Friday
Welcome to the Friday edition of the Knockdown Daily. Today’s issue has a ton of topics to cover. We have four different stories for you, plus a dozen stories in the notes section. All the news you need and more is all here! Let’s get started.
Jan Blachowicz Pulled From UFC 297 Fight, Set To Undergo Surgery
Jan Blachowicz has been removed from UFC’s January 20th pay-per-view card and seemingly won’t be competing for a while after then.
The former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion announced Thursday that he suffered a shoulder injury in training, causing him to undergo surgery soon. This injury has forced him out of his UFC 297 fight against Aleksandar Rakic.
“Withdrawing from a fight due to injury is one of the most difficult decisions a fighter can make,” Blachowicz said in an Instagram post. “However, sometimes there is no other option, especially when you are competing in the TOP 5 and want to put on a show at the highest possible level.”
“Thank you in advance for your support!” he said later in the post. “I am waiting for the date of surgery, after which rehabilitation and return to training will follow. I promise I will come back stronger!”
Blachowicz was looking to earn his first win since 2022 with the January booking. In recent appearances, the former champ has fought to a draw against Magomed Ankalaev and suffered a split decision defeat against now-titleholder Alex Pereira.
UFC 297 is currently set to be headlined by UFC Middleweight Champion Sean Strickland and rising challenger Dricus Du Plessis.
ONE Championship Announces March Event In Qatar
ONE Championship’s long-teased event in Qatar has officially been announced.
ONE 166 will take place on March 1st from the Lusail Sports Arena in Qatar, per an announcement made Thursday. Tickets are currently on sale for the event, with prices ranging from 100 to 8,500 Qatari Riyal (QAR), which roughly translates as $27 to 2,334 U.S. dollars.
ONE Championship has discussed hosting an event in Qatar for months. The fight promotion has previously received cash injections from the Qatar Investment Authority, causing incentive for an event to be held in the country. ONE 166 will be sponsored by Qatar’s tourism brand, Visit Qatar.
The plan was originally for the promotion to head to the country in December of this year. However, ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong recently told the South China Morning Sport that there was later a “joint decision” made to instead hold it in March 2024.
A press releaseby ONE Championship announces the plan to present five different title fights on the card, including bouts in MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and grappling.
The recent announcement is part of the promotion’s plans to hold events throughout the world in 2024. It was also recently revealed that ONE Championship will return to Japan for the first time since 2019 in late January.
Saturday’s UFC Card Loses Daniel Marcos vs. Carlos Vera
This weekend’s UFC card has taken yet another hit. A 140-pound catchweight fight between Daniel Marcos and Carlos Vera has departed the card, per a report from Nolan King of MMA Junkie.
Visa issues for Marcos reportedly stopped him from competing this weekend at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The change means that Saturday’s show will now have just 11 bouts in total.
Marcos has suffered a series of canceled bouts this year, keeping him on the sidelines for a series of months. In November, matchups against both Daniel Santos and Victor Hugo were thrown out for varying reasons.
Vera took this fight on short notice, getting pulled from a December 15th CFFC card to take this fight against Marcos. Previous bouts in his career include an LFA win and a loss on Season 31 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
Saturday’s UFC card has suffered a total of seven changes in recent weeks. Last month, five fights left the card due to the promotion’s plan to shift the event location from China to the U.S. Earlier this week, the card also lost a bout after Allan Nascimento withdrew from a fight against Sumudaerji. A short notice opponent for Sumudaerji has since been found in Tim Elliott.
While Marcos will be free this weekend, he already has another fight scheduled. He is now expected to face Aoriqileng at UFC’s February 10th show, per MMA Junkie. Aoriqileng is coming off a decision victory over Johnny Munoz Jr. from October.
PFL To Crown Inaugural European Champions This Friday
After running their year-long season four times in the U.S., PFL attempted to create a secondary league this year in Europe. On a smaller schedule of just four events instead of the 10 seen in their main tour, PFL held tournaments at light heavyweight, lightweight, bantamweight, and flyweight. This Friday, those European brackets will culminate with a card from the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland.
The highest-billed tournament bout will see Bellator vets Frans Mlambo and Khurshed Kakhorov face off in a five-round fight. Just before then, undefeated Polish talent Jakub Kaszuba will compete in a lightweight title fight against John Mitchell.
Earlier in the night, light heavyweight prospect Simeon Powell will test his skills in a championship about against Jakob Nedoh. And flyweight finisher Dakota Ditcheva wil meet Valentina Scatizzi in a five-round bout.
Outside of the title bouts, there are many other notable talents that will be competing. This includes UFC vets Brett Johns and Tom Breese, plus Irish featherweight Nate Kelly and former Cage Warriors champ Dominique Wooding.
PFL’s card lost a bout on Thursday, as Andreeas Binder was pulled from his lightweight fight against Bellator vet Daniele Scatizzi after missing weight by nearly six pounds. The full weigh-in results for the card can be read in Tyler Treese’s report for Sherdog.
Here’s how the lineup looks:
Main Card
Bout 12: Nate Kelly (8-2) vs. Dimitry Solimeis (6-3) (Featherweight)
Bout 11: Frans Mlambo (15-5) vs. Khurshed Kakhorov (11-1) (PFL Europe Bantamweight Championship)
Bout 10: John Mitchell (8-1) vs. Jakub Kaszuba (10-0) (PFL Europe Lightweight Championship)
Bout 9: Dylan Tuke (6-4) vs. Yazid Chouchane (10-3) (Lightweight)
Bout 8: Dakota Ditcheva (9-0) vs. Valentina Scatizzi (2-1) (PFL Europe Flyweight Championship)
Bout 7: Jakob Nedoh (7-1) vs. Simeon Powell (9-0) (PFL Europe Light Heavyweight Championship)
Preliminary Card
Bout 6: Lewis McGrillen-Evans (8-0) vs. Weslley Maia (8-5) (Bantamweight)
Bout 5: Brett Johns (19-3) vs. David Tonatiuh Crol (11-7) (Featherweight)
Bout 4: Tom Breese (17-4) vs. Cleiton Silva (16-3) (Welterweight)
Bout 3: Kikadze Bondo (7-3-1) vs. Dominique Wooding (9-5) (Bantamweight)
Bout 2: Connor Hughes (7-1) Vs. Sebas Santana Guedes (10-6-1) (Lightweight)
Bout 1: Nate Kelly (1-2) vs. Calum Seaton (1-3) (Amateur Flyweight)
Notes On: UFC, CFFC, Cage Warriors & LFA
Bloody Elbow’s ongoing look at details from the Le vs Zuffa UFC antitrust lawsuit has taken a focus at the promotion’s negotiation tactics and how they have been celebrated by top executives. In one text exchange obtained in the discovery period of the class action lawsuit, Dana White told Lorenzo Fertitta that he committed a “cut throat nasty business” move by stopping Gilbert Melendez from competing in Bellator. The full report can be read here.
Josh Emmett (18-4) is back on the UFC 296 lineup for December 16th. After Emmett’s fight against Giga Chikadze (15-3) recently fell through, Bryce Mitchell (16-1) has stepped up to face him instead, as first reported by MagicM_MMABets. Mitchell bounced back from his sole pro loss in September with a win over Dan Ige.
Former champ Brandon Moreno (21-7-2) will be the backup fighter for the UFC Flyweight Championship bout on December 16th between Brandon Royval (15-6) and Alexandre Pantoja (26-5), per Marcel Dorff.
A fight from 2019 will receive a rematch on February 3rd, as Molly McCann (13-6) and Diana Belbita (15-8) will face off at strawweight, as announced Wednesday. When they first met, McCann walked away with a unanimous decision victory. Belbita has lost three of her last five since then. This fight will be McCann’s debut at 115 pounds after previously competing at flyweight.
Undefeated featherweight contender Lerone Murphy (13-0-1) has been paired against Dan Ige (17-7) for the promotion’s February 10th show, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported this week. Murphy picked up his fifth consecutive UFC win in July, beating Joshua Culibao. His upcoming bout is expected to be a big step-up test for him.
The management team of Alex Perez (24-7) has announced that the flyweight vet will take on undefeated Muhammad Mokaev (10-0) at UFC’s March 2nd card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Mokaev will be on the hunt for his sixth UFC win since early 2022.
Two fights have joined UFC 299, which will take place on March 9th.
Former flyweight title challenger Katlyn Chookagian (18-5) will meet Maycee Barber (13-2), per Alex Behunin. Chookagian will be trying to come back from a loss, while Barber will be trying to extend what is currently a five-fight winning streak.
After winning his UFC debut in August against Ode Osbourne, Asu Almabayev (18-2) will meet CJ Vergara (12-4-1) in a flyweight fight. Vergara is coming off a successful 2023, beating Daniel Lacerda and Vinicius Salvador.
UFC has started casting talents for Season 32 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” The upcoming season will feature featherweight and middleweight talents, with participants being casted from now until mid-January, Damon Martin of MMA Fighting reported. The show is expected to return to air in June.
Two fights have joined CFFC 128, which will take place on December 15th from Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.
Former CFFC Flyweight Champion Phumi Nkuta (6-0) will return to the promotion, making his bantamweight debut against Hunter Starner (2-1). Nkuta has been a stand-out prospect from CFFC since his debut for them in 2020.
In a rematch from June, Wendel Araujo (7-4) and Vilson Ndregjoni (8-3) will meet. Their first bout was in the main event of a CFFC card in June, when Ndregjoni won via second-round finish.
A pair of fights have been added to Cage Wariors 165, which will be on December 15th in San Diego, California, USA.
2022 “Dana White’s Contender Series” alum Ahmad Hassanzada (9-3) will make his promotional debut against Chasen Blair (3-1), who has spent all four of his pro fights in Cage Warriors and won his last bout in just 12 seconds due to a right hook.
Bantamweights Brandon Carrillo (3-1) and Corvan Allen (2-2) will square off.
CFFC will host a grappling event on December 30th, with numerous UFC talents involved. Aljamain Sterling (23-4), Chris Daukaus (12-7), Alexandr Romanov (17-2), Eryk Anders (15-8), Kyle Daukaus (13-4), Niko Price (15-7), Pat Sabatini, (18-5) and Charlie Campbell (8-2) are all expected to be part of the card, which will be broadcast on UFC Fight Pass. The full lineup with matchups can be seen here.
LFA 174 will take place on January 12th from the Mystic Lake Casino Hotel in Prior Lake, Minnesota, USA. A non-title fight between Jacobi Jones (6-2) and Kegan Gennrich (7-2) will take place in the main event. Jones will be returning to LFA after his “Dana White’s Contender Series” loss in September. Gennrich is expected to enter the bout on a four-fight winning streak in LFA.
Five other fights have been announced for the card so far. In the co-main event, undefeated Quang Le (6-0) will face Cody Peterson (6-1) at a cathchweight of 140 pounds. Five of Le’s six wins as a pro have come inside the LFA cage. Peterson will be competing in MMA for the first time since 2019.
At heavyweight, undefeated talents Steven Asplund (1-0) and Billy Ray Valdez (2-0) will meet. Asplund won his pro debut in November with an 11-second stoppage.Valdez was successful in his first LFA fight in August with a first-round submission against Lorenzo Figueroa.
After winning his pro debut, Kelton Sneve (1-0) will meet Coty Milhausen (3-2) at lightweight. Milhausen will be appearing in LFA for the first time since his pro debut loss in late 2021.
Following a four-fight undefeated run as an amateur, Taner Trembley (0-0) will make his debut against Dylan Smerillo (0-0), who won just six of his 11 amateur fights.
In search of his fifth win as an undefeated light heavyweight, Mervin Miller (4-0) will face Kory Moegenburg (3-6).